Hearing aids are portable hearing devices which are provided to the hard of hearing. In order to meet numerous individual needs, different types of hearing aids, such as behind-the-ear hearing aids (BTE), behind-the-ear with external receiver (RIC: receiver in the canal) and in-the ear hearing aids (ITE) for example, also concha hearing aids or canal hearing aids (ITE, CIC), are provided. The hearing aids listed as examples are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. In addition, bone conductive hearing aids, implantable or vibro-tactile hearing aids are also available on the market. In these cases the defective hearing is stimulated either by mechanical or electrical means.
In principle the main components of hearing aids are an input transducer, an amplifier and an output transducer. The input transducer is usually an acoustic receiver, for example a microphone, and/or an electromagnetic receiver, for example an induction coil. The output transducer is usually realized as an electro-acoustic transducer, for example a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical transducer for example a bone conductive receiver. The amplifier is usually integrated in a signal processing unit. This basic construction is illustrated in the example of a behind-the-ear hearing aid in FIG. 1. One or more microphones 2 for receiving the sound from the environment are built into a hearing aid housing 1 to be worn behind the ear. A signal processing unit 3, that is likewise integrated in the hearing aid housing 1, processes and amplifies the microphone signals. The output signal of the signal processing unit 3 is transmitted to a loudspeaker or receiver 4, which outputs an acoustic signal. If necessary, the sound is transmitted to the eardrum of the wearer of the device via an acoustic tube that is located in the auditory canal by means of an otoplastic. The power supply of the hearing aid and in particular that of the signal processing unit 3, is provided by a battery 5 which is likewise integrated in the hearing aid housing 1.
Hearing aids have very complex signal processing algorithms and have to be individually adapted to the respective hearing loss of a patient. For this adaptation an audiogram is usually obtained for the patient by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist. Based on this, a hearing aid type is selected and individually adjusted accordingly. This workflow for adapting the hearing aid usually involves the patient making frequent visits to the ENT specialist or acoustician. In addition it frequently requires repetitive feedback between a hearing aid manufacturer and an acoustician in order to select the actual, ideal hearing aid type in the course of the adaptation process, and to achieve the best setting for the patient. For this reason, this can result in very long waiting times for the patient during the provision of the hearing aid. The reason for this lies in poor patient management and the labor-intensive workflow for the adaptation.
The publication US 2002/0111745 A1 discloses a portable hearing analysis system. Here, parameters of a hearing response can be obtained by means of an audiometer. A response forecast is used to implement a first adjustment for a hearing aid.
Furthermore, the publication EP 0 661 905 A2 describes a method for adapting a hearing aid, and a corresponding hearing aid. Using a perceptive model, a psycho-acoustic variable, in particular the loudness, is obtained on the one hand for a standard group of people and on the other hand for a single individual. Correction data, by means of which the signal transmission at the hearing aid is designed or adjusted ex situ or controlled in situ, are determined on the basis of the difference between the two psycho-acoustic variables.